Artist Feature: june at noon

I met Gretchen of  june at noon via the Digital Designers Team on Etsy. She posted in a thread asking if members used Twitter. As you *might* know, I {heart} Twitter so I followed everyone that posted in that thread. From Gretchen’s tweets I realized that she and I have kids who are the same age and gender. From that common ground we have developed an online friendship. I love reading Gretchen’s blog because I never know what wonderful photos of her craft she will share.

It is my pleasure to introduce you to Gretchen of june at noon.

My name is Gretchen. I’m a 30-something wife and stay-at-home mother of two beautiful children, 4 and 2. I am a self-taught artist who is just beginning to find myself and find satisfaction in who I am. Some various, completely unrelated things about me: I am both highly organized/logical and highly creative/random. My left and right brains like playing together! I have a strong imagination and a strong sense memory, meaning scents, feelings, textures, temperatures, etc. bring back strong memories for me of all different things throughout my life so far. I was trained as a writer and worked as an editor and a receptionist before staying at home with the littles. I love trees, unusual flowers, polar bears, houses, and pincushions, among other things.

How did you choose the name June At Noon? What do you create?

I love Summer, and I thrive on sunlight. I took literally months brainstorming names that would suit me, and I kept coming back to the idea of sunlight and warm weather and all the positive feelings those translate into. I started writing down words, and at some point it just occurred to me that “June,” a summer month, rhymes with “noon,” which is a sunlight-filled time of day. And that was it! I realized that a lot of people would think “June” is a person, and perhaps she’s creating or blogging at noon, and I sort of like that idea too! (I’ve gotten used to being called June!)

 

I do a lot of different creative things, like knitting, crochet, sewing, stamp-carving, and other random things that I come across on the interwebs and want to try. My main focus, though, is on embroidery and drawing. I love to draw, and I’ve realized that many of the things I most enjoy creating stem out of my original drawings, whether those are stamp designs (see my blog header) or embroideries or illustrations. I sell a variety of things, depending on what I’m making at the time, but I’m most known for my embroidery patterns and my illustrations.

What is your creative process from inspiration to finished product?

I’ll talk about my drawings here, since each creative process varies depending on the medium. Sometimes I start with a desire to make something specific, and sometimes an idea just pops into my head. I’m often inspired by scenes I catch my kids in or by nature. (You’ll notice trees are a common theme in my illustrations.) I also find a rich source of ideas in my sense memories, so I am often trying to capture a feeling: the air, the light, the smells, the textures, the emotions. Usually fairly early on a completed scene (only the sketch, no color) just appears in my imagination, and I start sketching with pencil on paper. Once the sketch is mostly done, I scan it and redraw it digitally in Photoshop using a pencil “brush.” After that, I start the digital painting, mostly with watercolor brushes, adding layers and making small changes until I’m happy with it. I think my style is still fairly painterly in technique even though I’m using a computer brush to do it! Usually the initial drawing and painting are quick, but I can spend days getting the light and shadows, the blades of grass, the textures just so. (And I’m not necessarily going for realism so much as for a feeling. My style is a bit real and a bit naive all at once.) Once I’m close to finished, I’ll do a test print so I can see the “real thing” and make any tweaks necessary, and then it’s ready to go!

What is the best thing you’ve ever created and why did you choose it?

You know, I honestly love all the things I’ve made, for various reasons. It’s hard to pick a favorite because I make things in so many different categories. But if I were to focus on my illustrations, I’d say my current favorite is the “Under the Stars” drawing.

I have been playing with shadows and light, nature textures, and a certain dream-like quality, and with each print, I see that improving. I keep discovering new tools and techniques that aid the process, and “Under the Stars” is the latest drawing, which means it has the most current culmination of learned skills. (I’m also pretty proud of some of the more complex embroideries I’ve done, for similar reasons.)

Where can you be found online?

Etsy: http://juneatnoon.etsy.com
Blog: http://www.juneatnoon.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/juneatnoon
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/juneatnoon
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/muddlepud

The Giveaway

Gretchen is giving away one of her illustrations listed in her Etsy shop! The lucky winner can pick the illustration of their choice. This giveaway is open to everyone because Gretchen ships worldwide! 

How To Enter

To enter, leave a SEPARATE comment for each one of the following that you do. Each comment will count as one entry.

1. Go to june at noon’s Etsy Store and post a link to your favorite product in a comment to this post.

2. Go to Simply Kelly Designs Store and post a link to your favorite product in a comment to this post.

3.  ‘Like’ june at noon on Facebook and leave your first name and last initial in a comment to this post.

4. ‘Like’ Simply Kelly Designs on Facebook and leave your first name and last initial in a comment to this post.

5. Follow june at noon on Twitter and specify your twitter handle in a comment to this post.

6. Follow Simply Kelly Designs on Twitter and specify your twitter handle in a comment to this post.

7. Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment in this post. Feel free to use this sample tweet.

• Enter to win an illustration from @juneatnoon http://bit.ly/jqmfE7 via @SimplyKellyD

8. Follow june at noon’s blog and leave a comment in this post.

9. Follow Simply Kelly Designs blog and leave a comment in this post.

You have until 11:59 PM EST on Wednesday, July 13, 2011 to enter. The winner will be posted on this blog on July 15, 2011.

Tomorrow I will introduce you to my friend Kristy of Some Odd Girl!